Sheet-feeding device.



L. E. MORRISON. SHEET FEEDING DEVICE. APPLICATION IILED FEB. 17, 1908.

Patented Aug. 25, 1914.

2 SHBETSSHEET 1 L. E. MORRISON.

SHEET FEEDING DEVICE.

APPLIGA'I'ION FILED FEB. 17, 1908.

Patented Aug. 25, 1914,

2 BHEETS8HBET 2.

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EN EN UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS E. MORRISON, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY. ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF ANDMATTHIAS PLUM, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

SHEET-FEEDING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 25. 1914.

Application filed February 17, 1908. Serial No. 416,203.

T all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LEWIS E. MORRISON, acitizen of the United States of America, and

a resident of Newark, Essex county, New

Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSheet-Feedin Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to sheet feeding mechanisms for feeding paper tothe platen on a platen press, and the object of the invention is toprovide a feed for handling sheets, envelops or other matter in such amanner as to enable the press to be run at greater speed, than when fedby hand, and also remove the dangers accompanying this latter method offeeding.

My feeding mechanism may, of course, be used on other machines thanplaten presses, but in this instance and in its preferred form it isshown applied to a so called job press. and one of the new, novel anduseful features of this invention is, that it may be put on an ordinaryplaten press in a few minutes, and by means of no other tool but awrench, and that no change or alteration of any kind is necessary in theconstruction of the press. Besides this obviously great advantage, myimproved paper feed comprises a simple and convenient constructioncontaining the necessary elements for register and adaptability foroperation at different speed and for handling different sizes of paper.Further. While in this instance it is shown as receiving the singlesheet or envelop from an operator, it will be seen that any suitableautomatic separating mecha nism may be used for presenting the singlesheet to this feeding device. After the sheet has been printed betweenthe form and the platen, it may be removed by any suitable means.

Further objects and novel features of this invention will appear as thespecification proceeds, setting forth the detailed construction, whilereference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is aside elevation of a job press equipped with my improved paper feed, withparts left out. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the feed proper,Fig. 3 is a detail view of a tape positioning means and Fig. 4 is adetail view of a corner of the platen.

Referring now to Fig. 1 the reference numeral 1 denotes the frame of anordinary and well known type of job press; 2 is the platen and 3 theform. which latter is carried by the form carrying member l pivoted at 5and oscillated by means of connecting rods Gonly one of which isshoyxnand gear 7 driven from pinion on main shaft 9. The platen is ofthe oscillating type, and I do not need to go into detail about theoperation or construction of a press of this character, which is so wellknown in the art, further than to say. that the numeral ill indicatesthe platen locking cam found on all presses of this kind for locking theplaten while the printing is being done.

Referring now more particularly to Fig.

2, it will be seen that my feeding device is carried between and by twobrackets 11. ll which are fastened to the frame 1 by ordinary bolts 12,see Fig. 1. l pause here to point out that in Fig. 2 the platen is shownin its retracted position ready to receive the paper. and that in thisfigure I have shown all the parts in dotted lines. which do notconstitute a part of my invention. bore the brackets ll I place a table1 for receiving the pile of paper 14 which in this in stance is supposedto be separated by band and the single sheet 13 fed against a sideregistering guide It and then pushed onto the feed. The side guide isadjustable as shown and may be used for feeding to either side. Pivotedin the brackets is the upper tape shaft 17 and journalcd on this are thetwo swinging arms l8, 18. in the free ends of which the lower tape shaftin is journaled; tapes 20 pass over and around these two shafts. Theshaft 17 passes through the one bracket 11 and carries on the outsidethereof a gear .21. which is driven from gear 7 on the press through thegears 22. J3 and .24. the latter of these meshing with gear T. The gears'22, 23 and ll are carried on studs on the bracket 11. The single sheetis pushed out over the shaft 17 and onto the tapes '20 and by theselatter is carried down and dropped on the platen at the proper time.\Vhile passing on the tapes the sheet is side registered by the guidesl5. 25. carried by rods 21'. 26, which latter are ad- ]ustably fixed inposts 27, 27. The passage of the sheet from the tapes to the platen istimed by means of the stops 28 adiustably fixed on rockshaft 29. Thestops rest on the cam roll shaft 19 and are held down by spring 30. Atthe proper moment, the stops are raised by the shaft 29 being rockedupwardly through the inst-rumentality of lever 31, link 32, bell crank33 pivoted at 34, link 35 and lever 36, which latter is pivoted at 3?and carries a cam roll 38 cooperating with the platen locking cam 10.The rotary movement of the shaft 29 causes the stops 28 to be lifted outof the way of the sheet, which then passes out over the shaft 19 anddrops on the platen, where its position is determined in the usualmanner. The stripper fingers or platen grippers are not shown.

After the sheet is dropped on the platen, the latter moves down intoprinting position, consequently it is necessary to move the feed upwardout of the way. This is accomplished in the following manner. Pivoted at39 on the brackets 11 are two levers 40, one on either side, each ofwhich cooperate with rollers 41, which latter are fastened to the platenas seen in Fig. 4. These two lovers 40 each carry a cam roll 42, which00- acts with the cams 43 mounted on arms 18. The levers 40 restconstantly on the rollers 41 in the platen, hence any movement of thelatter affects the position of the levers and thee in turn constantlysupport the feeding device through the rollers 42 and cams 43.

As shown in Fig. 2 the platen is in position to receive the paper fromthe tapes. Immediately after the paper reaches the stops 28 these latterare moved upby the 38 coacting with the low part of the platen lockingcam 10, while the tapes, of course, rotate all the time. When the stops23 are up the paper passes onto the platen, and the latter now movesdownward to printing, position, and during this movement the rollers 41lift. the levers 40 up and they in turn lift the feed as seen in Fig. 1,where the platen is shown in its highest position with the feed highenough to let the platen pass under it. The further movement of theplaten simply causes the feed again to be lowered. After the printing isdone, the platen again moves up, lifts the feed out of way, passes underit and is ready to receive the next sheet, which in the meantime hasbeen placed on the tapes by the operator or a separating mechanism.Lever 31 is joined to the link 32 by a pin and slot connection, so thatwhen the feed is swung up, the spring 30 is free to act to close thestops on shaft 19 in time to arrest the passage of the next sheet on thetapes.

The above is thought to clearly set forth the construction and operationof my invention. It will be noticed that the feeding mechanism is oneunit as shown in full lines in Fig. 2, and that this unit is completeand may be readily placed on or removed from the press. The rollers 41need in most instances never be removed from the platen.

Further, the mechanism may readily be made to fit any width of the pressand can as readily be adjusted to suit any size sheet, as the stops andside guides are adjustable sideways. The brackets are joined by suitablerods or bars 44 and one other rod 45 is provided, which carry clips 46for adjusting the position of the tapes. Only one of the clips is shownin Fig. 2 for the sake of clearness.

Fig. 3 shows a detail view of a clip, which is made of springy metal andis )rovided with spring positions 47 and 48 or grip ping the rod 45 andhas depending Wings 49 for guiding the tape. By sliding these clips onthe bar 45 the tapes are prevented from moving sideways after once beingpositioned.

Another feature which that the feed is operated by parts which belong tothe press proper and that no connections or extra parts are added.

The construction may of course vary considerably within the scope of theclaims and I do not wish to be limited to the precise form shown.

I claim.

1. A. sheet feeding device for platen presses having a movable platenand a cam for locking said platen in printing position comprising asheet conveying means, mechanism for arresting the movement of the sheetat a predetermined point and at pre determined intervals, means foroperating said mechanism by the said cam, means for driving saidconveying means constantly in one direction, and means for oscillatingsaid device by the movement of said platen.

2. A sheet feeding device for platen presses, having a movable platencomprising a frame, a feed table, a sheet conveying mechanism pivoted onsaid frame for conveying a sheet from the said feed table to the platen,two levers pivoted 011 the frame, and means for oscillating the saidlevers to move the said conveying mechanism up when the said platenmoves into printing position.

3. A sheet feeding mechanism for platen presses comprising means forconveying and registering a'sheet, means for timing the movement of saidsheet at predetermined intervals before the same reaches the position tobe printed, means for driving said conveying means, means for operatingthe said timing means, a frame for supporting all of the above mentionedmechanisms and combining the same into a machine unit adapt-- ed to beoperated by the combined actions of the platen, the driving gear and theplaten locking cam of the said press.

4. A sheet feeding mechanism for platen presses, having a movableplaten, comprismg a frame, a table on said frame for receiving a pile ofsheets, an adjustable side should be noted, is,

guide on said table, sheet conveying means pivoted on said frame,adjustable side registering guides carried the said conveying means,adjustable means. for stopping the movement of the sheet atpredetoifmimd iiiter'vals, all of the. aforesaid means being supportedby the said frame and means for an tomatically operating the seidfeedingmeclr anism by the action of the said press.-

5. A sheet feeding'deviee; for platen presses having a movable paltencomprising blwkets detaehably mounted on the frame of the said press,sheet conveying means pivoted in the said brackets and overhanging thesaid platen, driving means carried by one of said brackets for drivingthe said conveying means constantly in one directionand means foroscillating the said conveying means by the movements of the saidplaten;

6. A sheet feeding mechanism for platen presses having a movable platencomprising side brackets adapted to be attached to the side frames ofthe press, sheet conveying means and drivingmteans for the same car riedby the said brackets, movable members pivoted in the latter andinterposed between the said conveying means and the said platen andactuated the latter to oscillate the said conveying means.

7. A sheet feeding mechanism for platenpresses having a movable platencomprising side brackets, oscillating members supported by the latterand adapted to coiperate with the said platen, sheet conveying means pivoted in the said brackets and resting on the said oscillating membersand means for driv+ ing the said conveying means.

8. A sheet feeding mechanism for platen presses having a movable platencomprising an upper and lower tape shaft, tapes on the same, means forconstantly driving the said tapes and means for oscillating the saidfeed ing mechanism by the movements of the said platen.

9. The combination of a movable platen, sheet conveying means pivoted ona fixed pivot adjacent the same and projecting into the path of the saidplaten and means for moving the said sheetconvey-imig means out of thepath of the said platen and into the path of the said platen by themovements. of the same, said last mentioned means comprising pivotedmembers having frictional contact with the said platen and the saidconveying means.

10.- A sheet feeding attachment for platen presses contained in aseparate machine unit and comprising sheet conveying means, timingmeans, side registering means,- a' framework for supporting all o f thesaid means and movable membersv pivoted on the said frame Work andforming a support for the one end of the said sheet convey means 11. Thecombination of a mova 1e platen;

a platen locking cam, sheet conveying tapes,

means ooacting with the said platen for oscillating the said tapes,timing means and means coacting with the said locking cam for operating"the said timing means.

12. The combination of a movable platen, a platen locking cam, sheetconveying means, registering means, timing means, mean-s coacting withthe said platen for oscillating all of the aforesaid means and meanscoacting with the said locking cam for periodically operating the saidtiming means.

13. The combination of a press having a movable platen, a platenlockingcam and a driving mechanism, a sheet feeding device comprising conveyingmeans, pivoted supporting arms forthe same, movable members interposed.between the said'arms and the said platen and coasting with the latterfor oscillating said arms, sheet stops on said 'a 1s*rns,- operatingconnect-ions coarting with .the said cam for operating the said sheetstops and means adapted to coast with the said driving mechanism fordriving the said conveying means.

v 14. A sheet feeding attachment for printing presses comprising sideframes, conveying means pivoted on said frames, levers also pivoted onsaid frames, cam rolls on said levers and earns secured to the saidconveying means and resting by gravity on-the saidcam rolls.

15., A sheet feeding attachment for printing presses comprising a pairof pivoted arms, tape shafts carried by the same, tapes on said shafts,side registering means supported on said arms, movable supports for thearms and a common frame work ,for all of the aforesaid elements andseparate from the frame of the said press. 1

16.. A sheet feeding attachment for printing presses comprismg conveyingmeans, means for oscillating the same vertically in synchronism with theoperations of the press, sheet stops movable with the said conveyingmeans and connections for positively moving the said steps out of thepath of the sheet when the said conveying means are in their lowerposition.

17. Ar sheet feeding attachment for printing presses comprisingconveying means, means for oscillating the same vertically insynthronisrn with the operations of the press, sheet stops movable withthe said conveying means, connections for positively moving the saidstopsout of the path of the sheet when the said conveying means are intheir lowermost" position and a spring for moving the said stops intothe path of the sheet when the said conveying means are in theiruppermost position.

1 8. A sheet feeding attachment for printing presses comprising sheetconveying means, supporting means therefor, movable ,members pivoted onthe latter for oscillating the said conveying means, cam rolls on saidmembers, cams on the said conveying means and resting upon the said camrolls by gravity.

19. A sheet feeding attachment for printing presses comprising a pivotedtape table, sheet stops carried by the same, means for normally keepingsaid stops in their lowermost position on said table, devices foroscillating the latter and connections for raising the said sheet stopswhen the tape table is in its lower position and for permitting the saidmeans to operate when the tape table is in its upper position.

20. The combination of a platen, a pair of levers resting by gravitythereon, a tape table resting by gravity on said levers and comprising aplurality of sheets conveying tapes and supporting means therefor andmeans for operating said tapes.

21. The combination of a movable platen, sheet conveying means pivotedabove and in front of said platen and projecting into the path thereof,means interposed between the said conveying means and the said platenand in frictional contact with both of the said elements for oscillatingthe said sheet conveying means by the movements of the said platen.

Q2. The combination of a movable platen, sheet conveying means pivotedto operate as a separate unit, means interposed between the saidconveying means and the said platen and in frictional contact with bothof the said elements for oscillating the said conveying means by themovements of the platen.

23. The combination of a movable platen, sheet conveying means pivotedto operate as a separate unit, sheet timing devices carried by the saidunit, means interposed between the said unit and the said platen and infrictional contact with both of the aforesaid elements for operating thesaid unit by the movements of the platen and means for operating thesaid sheet timing devices.

24. The combination of a movable platen, l a sheet conveying mechanismadapted to be operated as a machine unit sheet timing devices secured tothe same, movable members interposed between the said mechanism and theplaten and in frictional contact with both of the said elements foroperating the said mechanism by the movements of the said platen andmeans for operating the said timing devices independently of theoperation of the said conveying mechanism.

25. A sheet feeding attachment for printing presses having a movableplaten and platen locking means said attachment consisting of a selfcontained structure adapted to be attached to the said press andcomprisin a conveying tape table, means for operating the latter by themovements of the said platen, sheet timing means and connections foroperating the latter from the said platen locking means.

26. A sheet feeding mechanism for printing presses having a movableplaten comprising an upper and a lower tape shaft, tapes on said shafts,timing means in periodical contact with the said lower shaft, means foroscillating said tapes and said timing means together and in synchronismwith the movements of the press and other means for operating saidtiming means independently of the said oscillations.

27. A sheet feeding mechanism for printing presses having a movableplaten and a platen locking device, said feeding mechanism comprisingsheet conveying means, timing means in periodical contact with saidconveying means, means for oscillating both said conveying and saidtiming means by the movement of the said platen and other means forperiodically operating the said timing means by the said platen lockingdevice.

28. A sheet feeding attachment comprising side supports, a shaftjournaled therein, arms pivoted on the said shaft, conveying meanscarried by the said arms, movable members secured to the said sidesupports and cooperating means carried by the said movable members andthe said arms for supporting the latter by gravity on said memers.

29. A sheet feeding attachment compris ing supports, a. pair of armspivoted thereon, sheet conveying means carried by said arms, movablemembers pivoted to the supports, cam rolls on said members, cams fixedto the said arms and adapted to rest on said cam rolls for supportingthe said arms and for oscillating the same in unison with the movementsof the said members.

30. A sheet feeding attachment comprising supports, sheet conveyingmeans pivoted thereon, side register means secured to the said conveyingmeans, timing devices pivoted on the latter and adapted to cooperatetherewith, operating connections for the said timing means pivoted onthe said supports and movable members also pivoted on said supports andin frictional contact with the said conveying means for the support ofthe latter.

Signed at New York, N. Y. this 10 day of Feb. 1908.

LEWIS MORRISON.

Witnesses:

E. VAN ZANDT, IVAN Komosnem.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe "Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C."

